Mr. Crowley says Ford has also noticed that some Super Duty buyers are
parking their trucks entirely until they need to use them and buying
smaller cars, like the Ford Focus, to use for commuting. When fuel used
to cost around $2 a gallon, they were driving their Super Dutys all the
time.

The large displacement Boss V-8 was meant to go head-to-head with similar
engines from Chrysler, General Motors and Toyota. A 6.2-liter version
would have been the premiere gas engine for the new Ford F-150. Instead,
sources say rapidly rising fuel prices and lower than expected fuel economy
numbers have ended any hope of this motor reaching production in the
F-150, as well as other Ford vehicles like the Mustang. Mileage concerns
was one of the reasons the Boss engine program was originally killed
before it was resurrected in 2006 by Mark Fields, Ford Americas president.

Asked by
PickupTrucks.com if the Boss engine program is in jeopardy, Mr. Fields
said, "We've
made a significant investment in it (the Boss engine). The program
is moving forward but with lower volumes and only one displacement
(engine)."

Development costs and rising gas prices ended development of the Boss
engine, then known as the Hurricane, in 2005. Its 2006 revival was part
of Fields' restructuring plan, a move that some say showed Fields' commitment
to shaking up Ford's North American auto operations. The Boss' return
was an attempt to maintain Ford's lead in the pickup truck market.

Instead
of the Boss V-8, Ford will likely continue to rely on its modular family
of V-8 engines, including the recently updated three-valve version
of the 5.4-liter V-8. A new 5.0-liter modular V-8 is also rumored to
be in the works.

Ford also
is expecting its new line of smaller displacement EcoBoost engines
to provide both power and fuel economy. A V-6 EcoBoost is expected
to be able to produce V-8-like power.

F-150 fans concerned about what this means for F-150 power ratings should
look to the upcoming 4.4 liter V-8 diesel, expected in 2010. That will
be the premiere towing and hauling engine for the F-150.

It’s
not known what impact the end of the Boss program in the F-150 might
have on the rumored
Raptor extreme off-roader or future Harley-Davidson edition
pickup, where the Boss had also been expected. Both trucks could default
to a supercharged 5.4-liter V-8. Sean
Holman at Four Wheeler has additional
information that's well worth a read.

Sources
say the Boss program is still alive, for now, but only as a future
engine for Ford’s Super Duty pickups, where it’s
expected to replace the 6.8-liter gasoline V-10.

With
all the sales shifts and news about changing product plans coming out
of Dearborn, Ford’s truck team continues to remember
there’s one constant about big pickup trucks.

“You
can’t build America with Priuses. You have to have
the trucks,” says Mr. Crowley.